Paul Rusesabagina came and spoke at Penn State last week. He's the man who Hotel Rwanda was based on. If you didn't see it, he saved more than 1200 people from ethnic genocide in Rwanda in 1994 by sheltering them in the hotel where he was a manager. And it was pretty stellar. I wished I had watched the movie a little more recently, but he seemed to indicate that it was, for the most part, an accurate portrayal. He had a couple intense things to say, like that it wasn't some huge daring decision for him to put himself in danger to save others. He just did what he thought was right, and after awhile, didn't think about it. At one point he chose to send his family away to safety but to stay behind with the rest of the refugees. He said something like "I knew I could leave, but I knew my conscious would not let me live. I would not be able to eat. I would not be able to drink. I would not be able to sleep." Pretty intense. Also, he recently watched world leaders at an anniversary of the Jewish holocaust repeating the phrase "never again". All he could think was "where were they in Rwanda? where are they now in Darfur? or in Chad, or maybe soon in Kenya?".
My sister and I are planning a roadtrip out west. We're going to take the month of July and just go. Planned stops include Chicago, Yellowstone, Glacier, Seattle, Portland, Redwoods, Napa, San Francisco, the coastal hwy, LA, Joshua Tree, the Grand Canyon, Utah, and Colorado. It will be excellent. If you will be out west in July, let me know.
In other news, my intestines still aren't super normal yet from Peru. I figure a month of that is enough, and I went to the doctor this morning. They think I might have one (or a couple million) of these guys living in me:
Cute little smirk, isn't it?
3 comments:
It has been heart-wrenching learning more and getting updates daily on what is happening in Kenya. And getting first-hand stuff from the missionaries that we support there. It does make you wonder though...where are other leaders in this? Yes, a week and a half ago the Senate passed a resolution condemning things going on in Kenya, but what is that going to do? And it is true, what about Darfur, Sudan? But also, what can people like you and me do?
p.s. those crawly things inside you, NOT FUN! I was sick for about a month when I got back from Peru too blegh!!!
1. I'm serious about the invitation to go to the Watoto mission in Uganda next August for about two weeks to build a house and play with kids. I have a friend who's Ugandian and organizing the trip.
2. I think I have the same buggers in my intestines but I got them from France... or Meadville... hm.
..... crap i hope i don't have those.
cute though
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